Tania Maroto is a reality TV producer based in Madrid. She explains: “If there\u2019s a love story, for instance, I\u2019ll highlight it with the resources I have to make sure you can see there really is a story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course, you have to introduce dynamic elements, so to speak.\u201d She has worked on a wide range of shows, such as Married at First Sight<\/em>, the Apprentice<\/em>, and even Supernanny<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe mother calls because her kid is behaving terribly, and when she tells him to go to bed, he starts kicking the living room furniture. So at night, I’ll tell the mother, \u2018Go ahead, tell him it\u2019s time for bed\u2019, because I need to have it on film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI provoke or set up situations that I know, based on all the information I have and the interviews I’ve done, will trigger certain events. I don’t know exactly how it will unfold.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n While the \u2018unfolding\u2019 part may be real, it\u2019s clear to see that reality shows are to some extent\u00a0 manipulated by the crew. Of course, the extent of this manipulation depends on who you ask. George Bebbington, a 24-year-old from Liverpool, took part in Season 11 of the UK\u2019s Ex on the\u00a0 Beach<\/em>, the last season of the show before it was temporarily cancelled.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said: \u201cEspecially on dating shows, it’s very obvious. Like they’ve been told to do this, they\u2019ve been persuaded to act like that, this person is going to go home, this person’s probably going to stay. It’s pretty obvious. You know who the favourites were with production, and where you stood in their eyes against other cast members.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s undeniable that the actual premise of many reality shows feels artificial. Yet, as audiences we overlook this for the sake of the storylines and drama we expect to unfold. Trapping a flock of twenty-somethings in a mansion and encouraging them to mingle sounds like the role of a zookeeper tasked with saving an endangered species. But while the setting, a 24-hour CCTV monitored house in Mallorca, where every room is wiretapped, might be unnatural, it is precisely this controlled environment where human stories flourish on screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor Su Holmes specialises in Film, Television, and Media at the University of East Anglia. She said: \u201cReality shows do still hark back to that longer history of seeing real people be real within artificial circumstances. They present what appear to be very relatable, universal emotions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI suppose around the year 2000 was the rise of these reality formats. Some scholars have argued that it wasn’t necessarily a programme shift, but a discursive shift in terms of how these programmes were being labelled and marketed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe selling of reality TV and the premise of engaging with these characters to see their real selves is a rhetoric that’s very familiar with celebrity culture, much the same way that soap opera has always engaged us. It’s an ongoing narrative which is cleverly structured over a number of episodes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps, then, what truly drives us to watch shows like Love Island<\/em>, which reached up to six million viewers during its hit 2019 season, isn\u2019t revolutionary after all. Instead, it might simply be the same timeless fascination with human stories, now polished and capitalised off of by production companies and broadcasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Melissa Hughes, a psychologist and writer explains: \u201cSome of the reality TV challenges are filled with danger while others are focused on the human nature of relationships, change or self improvement. But one of the most common themes of these shows are real people experiencing and reacting to conflict. We get to experience that conflict vicariously through them and see flashes of ourselves.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tania Maroto says: “Human behaviour has something incredible. It never stops surprising you. We love scandals, we love to see how people behave, and we love watching people who are very different from us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cReality TV lets people escape their own lives, and often their crappy lives, so to speak.\u201d<\/p>Tania Maroto<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n But that opens another question – can we be sure that the cast members are being genuine, or are they just as fake as the programmes themselves? George Bebbington said: “Every single person that goes on a reality show has a motive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou see it a lot on Big Brother <\/em>where people say they don’t have a game plan, that they\u2019re just there for the experience. It’s a lie. Every single person goes on for a reason, whether it’s to gain followers, do more TV, network, or whether it’s for a payday. Everyone has a motive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I knew what was entertaining and what wasn\u2019t as a viewer, and as a fan. I knew going in what people like to see and what they don\u2019t, so I went in with a plan and an idea of what I wanted to do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n So if the environment is artificial, and the cast is fake too, then what\u2019s left? Maybe it\u2019s just the human stories we\u2019re so invested in, scripted and planned out by producers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Althia G McLaughlin, a mental health counsellor, writes for Medium: \u201cSince viewers are able to live under the illusion that they are witnessing the \u2018real\u2019, everyday lives of the show\u2019s characters, viewers are able to convince themselves that they know these characters and have a sort of \u2018relationship\u2019 with them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tania Maroto says: \u201cYou need a really interesting cast, with diverse characters and profiles. You could do Survivor <\/em>on a small lake here in Spain. Of course, being on a tropical island in Latin America visually adds a lot, but a good cast is what really makes the difference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you have people with different profiles who clash or complement each other, they\u2019ll create content – alliances, conflicts, and storylines. It doesn\u2019t matter where they are; in Big Brother it\u2019s just a group of people locked in a house. The viewer isn\u2019t stupid, and they\u2019ll enjoy it. But the foundation of reality is having a strong cast.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/unglossedmag.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2025\/05\/MV5BMDYyY2VkOGItNzc2MC00ZGVhLWJhMjYtM2U5OTZiNDljNTg3XkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_-826x1024.jpg\")
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